Biden, McCarthy Forge Debt Deal in Bid to Avert US Default

  • President, speaker must now get framework through Congress
  • Deal will calm markets that began to brace for possible breach

White House and Republican negotiators reached a tentative deal late Saturday to raise the US debt ceiling and avert a default that threatened to send tremors through the global economy.

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who sealed the agreement during a 90-minute phone call, must now shepherd the framework to final legislative passage over the objections of hardliners in both parties.